Cheap winter alloy rims
 

I don't really want to drive around on steelies for 4 months a year, but at the same time I am not willing to drop 3K on high priced alloys for my winter tires. Any ideas/sources for lower-priced alloy rims in southern Ontario?

Used 16" WRX wheels.

^^

VW forums are also a good place to look for all kinds of 5X100 stuff.

Prob with used is that you can have non-visible warping or off-true deformation that only shows up when you drive - feels like a wheel balance problem that can't be fixed.

Besides wheel bolt pattern and size (17 X 7 standard) you have to specify the offset, correct? Which is IIRC 48mm.

the offset can be anything you want it to be so long as the wheel/tire combo doesnt rub

deviating from OEM width and offset will impact your scrub radius which has peculiar effects on handling. I won't go into the details, but anything you'll be fine with anything between the +55 and +40 range.

and don't worry about centerbore, so long as it's larger than yours


you are right, hidden problems with used wheels could happen. I've had a number of used wheels over the years and no problems.. knock on wood. I bought a set of used Kosei K1's in 2005 and they've seen track and street duty ever since.. and if they happen to fit over the FRS brakes then i might as well use em, haha.


but if you're worried about used then buying NEW steelies is your best bet. Less headaches for everybody, plus adds to that sleeper look.

Buy a set of nice wheels for summer tires.

Buy a set of winter tires and mount them on stock wheels.

???

Profit

fixed

I was just going to use the stock rims as winter wheels lol.. and get something else for summer (konigs or enkei)

Enkei > Konig. Big time.

I think with going to a 16" for winter you'll find a better, less expensive winter tire selection. With my old Civic, I went +1 for the summers and -1 for the winters. (For example stock wheels and tires were 185/60R14, so in the summer I went to a slightly wider 15" rim and tire that kept the diameter ~ the same with 195/50R15, and for the winters I did the opposite with 175/70R13.)

-1 for the FR-S will be ~205/55R16 (a little bit more diameter, and older WRX standard tires) or 195/55R16 (a little bit less diameter).

I've got a set of WRX rims on my Legacy. But the Legacy will be the winter beater...

Well, if you get cheap rims at 16 inch, they are like 100+ each. With tires and rims package from TireRack, it may come in around 1K or so. If you get those in CDN Tire, I think it would be somewhere around 1200 to 1400. (Had a set of 205/55/R16 for my wife in that price range.)

Another idea suggested of buying a set of good rims for summer and use the stock ones for winter is also good since the stock rim does not look too bad (IMHO) for winter use. It is just that you need to use up the stock tire pretty quick for the winter time. It is a bit pricy, though.

why dont u just get some el cheapo black steelies for winters...doesnt have to be alloys....

Tire Rack does not have a Canadian site. Do you have experience with them shipping to Canada? If so where did they ship - your home?
The wheel supplied with the FR-S looks OK with SWP so I think I'll go the cheaper route of getting a winter wheel/tire package. Now to research the tire choice. Love my Michelins (currently running Pilot Exalto A/S) but they are pricey.

Some guys on my VW club have done Tire Rack to Canada and depending on the wheels it can still come out cheaper than local. But it IS like 200 bucks shipping or so.

But for winter wheels, totally not needed. In Calgary I have at least 5 non-chain shops I know that will have tons of options or can order them in. Toronto will have many more. There are many 5x100 choices for us especially in 16s.

They can ship either to your home or to the tire installer of your choice, whether it be US or Canada, as long as there is someone who can/will receive the tires for you. I have them shipped to a tire installer in US and cross border to get it installed. No fuss, no tax and free shipping. My colleague has them shipped to their home in Canada and pay tax/shipping. However, that is a personal preference.

^ Thanks. I could see getting away with that cross-border if you were simply replacing tires but if you are bringing back 4 new tires on new rims, customs may have a few questions for you..:paddle:

thanks - I'll need to locate the good ones, through some forum with tons of GTA members.

4 Michelin X-ICE2s on the stock rims (215/45-17) would cost you less than $1000 and they are awesome tires. Tirerack.com or a local tire retailer.

I plan on using the stock 17s for my winters and put some Enkeis on in the summer (After I wear out the stock Prius tires)

enkeis this summer or next? I need to plan out my tire situation too... i want to upsize for summer wheels, but stock rubber wont fit :(

In frs? Not a chance. What about 4 old tires on rim? Hmmmmm........

You'll want to research this carefully - I clearly remember one Toyota engineer quoted saying that the front cannot take anything wider than 215s; and if you add wider backs only you will add some significant understeer to the car.

don't use words like "cannot"

there are many things that can be done when it comes to wheel/tire combinations, some are not always the best, or visually appealing, but a lot of things can be done.

I didn't, the Toyota GT-86 engineer did...:bonk:

You are going Ultramarine IIRC - I would swap wheels too with that color, the standard rims don't suit it at all. In fact the only colours they suit really are the Whiteout and (to some extent) the Raven.

I'll drive the stock/tires rims for a year. Next summer I'll replace the stock tires\Rims with Enkei Raijens probably... to renew my love for the car. It will also give me a chance to research the different lowering options. I'm in Canada though so I doubt I'll lower it much.

Yup, winter tires are going on the stock wheels as I can't stand them on the car anyways. Although I'll be in the odd position of my winter wheels being larger than my summers, but I really think 16inch will be the way to go.

Totally with you. I want 15s or 16s for winter, but I also want nice light 16s for summer. Don't want to waste perfectly good wheels though so that means the 17s might get dumped to winter duty. Graphite ultraleggera or rpf1s or something under 16 lbs for summer.

I got 16 inch Konig Zeros with winter rubber for my Santa Fe for like 800 all in. Was only a few bucks more than steelies.

Nice price! I assume that was not for Blizzaks or X-Ice/Alpins though.

The Michelin X-ICE2 is the best value, most durable, quietest winter tire but they aren't a "performance" winter tire like the Michelin Latitude Alpin.

I really like these tire reviews:
http://www.auto123.com/en/news/winte...1?artid=136977

I had them on my WRX and Miata... did plenty of controlled drifts on them. No complaints.

Yes, they don't score as well in the cornering or handling as some others. Those Nokian 7s look amazing, if they are priced right, and they are available here.

Trouble is Michelin does not sell a P215/44/17 snow tire; I assume a P215/50/17 would work but it would screw up your speedo and odo readings a bit? And negatively impact the handling marginally.

Yes, Michelin does carry the 215-45R17 in Canada, check this out from a BC site:
http://www.1010tires.com/Tires/Michelin/X-Ice+Xi2/29187

Personally, I'll get 205-55R16 (or 205-50R17 if use stock rims) for the FR-S, skinny tires are better to cut through the winter slush in GTA. Not to mention all those huge pot holes on our 400 series highways.

Yes they do... Both the Primacy Alpin and XI2 come in P215/45-17. Both actually have $70 rebates right now through tirerack.com. It's tempting.

Both Tirerack.com and 1010Tires are substantially more expensive than OttawaTiresDirect.com for the XI2s... but you need to live in Ottawa.

Nokian 7s are expensive... Almost $300 per tire.

After 2 winters mine are getting quite noisy.

On the rims - if I didn't already have 2 sets of 04 sti bbs rims, I'd get a used 17" set off legacy GT. They can be found dirt-cheap and will be several years newer than 16" wrx rims.

Wait for the fall and SimplyTire will start their big winter group buys. Their tires are pretty much the cheapest in Ontario and they sell alloy and steel wheels for pretty much every car. 18" Hankook w409 for my Genesis were $780 installed.

Well I was going with Michelin's Canadian website, using their search engine for 215/45/17 winter tires turned up nothing. But now when I look them up manually I can see for instance that Primacy Alpin PA3s are available in that size. Great search engine there, Michelin. :paddle:

Primacy Pa3s have had good reviews, seem well suited for performance and decent wear. Pilot Pa3s are even better but not the right size - closest is 215/50/17.

There is a big problem finding rims with the requisite 48 offset. A search of 100s of rims on 1010tire got a hit of only 6 at 17X7. Canadian Tire won't search by offset so you have to manually go through every 17X7 wheel.

Also if you do not specify TPMS in your tire/rim package I guess you are going to see your pressure warning light all winter. Are sensors generic, so the ones installed by say 1010tires will work with the FR-S system?

Best of the 48 offset wheels on 1010tire for a Whiteout IMO:
Attachment 6340

Just get 205s. Streeetch... not really lol.

For offset I'd think 42 or 45 would be fine as well which should be more common no?

As for TPMS I'm hoping we don't even get it. It's required in the US but not here (because of the winter wheels). Hyundai disables it for Canada cars.

You can buy the sensors for 40-60$ each and put them in the tires. Problem is some cars (porsche) will detect the new tires as they can remember up to 3 sets of wheels, others like Hyundai you have to go to the dealer and have them use the scan tool to set it to see the new wheels (which they charge for!) every time.

They're trying to do away with the wheel sensors totally and just use speed sensors on the hub but I'm not sure who's got that standard right now.

I agree completely. Had TPMS on my G35... it's never right and is almost entirely a nuisance. I just check the pressures myself.

Most cars in Canada dont have TPMS, Hyundai and Scion included. Its not simply disabled in my Genesis, but not even available. I cant see the FRS having it. Maybe the BRZ because its a higher end car, but probably not.

If the offset is +48, you can easily go down to as low as a +35 without any issues. +45 is the most common offset for import cars anyway and the most common.

215/45/17 or 205/50/17 winter tires will work, but a smaller and cheaper 205/55/16 would be a good downsized tire to use with a 16" wheel.

With the common 5x100 bolt spacing, a used set of Matrix or Corolla alloy wheels or something from another Suby will also work.